This research project explored possible relationships between torture and design. It concludes that design can be seen as an aesthetic quality. Design is a product of ‘intent’ and function. It is action aimed at producing a desired outcome. The expression of design in any phenomena (objects, systems of action, artworks etc.) is seen through its expression of intent towards some central purpose or ideal. Intent is thus the aesthetic expression of design. Acts of torture express intent to varying degrees.
The geo-political period beginning in 2001, known popularly as the War on Terror, saw a form of torture emerge under the title enhanced interrogation. This set of violent coercive techniques possibly the most thoroughly designed in history. As signified in extensive US Government research and documentation, these techniques were extensively designed to produce torture-like methods that avoided illegality.
Waterboarding (the simulation of drowning) was the most recognisable of the enhanced interrogation techniques, and perhaps the most violent. Its practice and the factors affecting its design were widely discussed. Yet, it remained invisible. By designing a suite of functional aids for waterboarding (the Water Cure Collection) to confer visibility on waterboarding. The manufacture of the Waterboards facilitated a practical enquiry into the technique’s design and a material affirmation of its existence in the world. It offered a concrete representation of waterboarding, a public realisation of its design.

This work is protected by Copyright. All rights reserved. Access to this work is provided for the purposes of personal research and study. Except where permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, this work must not be copied or communicated to others without the express permission of the copyright owner. Use the persistent URI in this record to enable others to access this work.